West Bengal to launch SMS-based alert service

KOLKATA, INDIA: The West Bengal government will soon launch an SMS-based alert service providing information, including weather and natural disaster warnings, to the people in the state.

"We will soon be starting an SMS-based advanced alert service to give out valuable information, including weather and natural disaster warnings," Information Technology minister Partha Chatterjee said at the state Secretariat here on Tuesday.

The service has been developed in collaboration with Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia. It will use advanced software to "bring people closer to the government", said Chatterjee.

"The system will open up the government to its citizens and can be an effective platform for communication. The only requirement for the end-users is to have data enabled phones," added Bhatia.

"Currently, there are 20 per cent users who have data-enabled phones which is likely to increase manifold in the coming years, making the alert mechanism truly effective," he said.

Chatterjee said the government was also planning to set up an "innovation centre" headed by Bhatia for training youngsters in the field of information technology and entrepreneurship.